From the HERE City National Desk
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte Hornets will start their season shorthanded, with guard Coby White, second-year forward Kon Knueppel and veteran Grant Williams all ruled out for Wednesday night’s opener at the Brooklyn Nets.
Charlotte said Tuesday the trio has resumed solo court drills during rehab, yet none will be cleared for the 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff. No target date for their returns was given.
A left hamstring strain sidelined Knueppel for every exhibition game. He played 81 games as a rookie last season, putting up 18.5 points a night to go with 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and shot 42.5% from deep. His 273 made threes led the NBA and broke the rookie mark of 206, and he was a first-team All-Rookie pick and the runner-up for Rookie of the Year.
White strained his left calf on Oct. 5 in training camp and sat out the rest of the exhibition schedule. Charlotte acquired him from Chicago in February and gave him a three-year, $74 million contract this summer. Williams is rehabbing a right hamstring issue, and forward Kylan Boswell is also out after right knee surgery during the preseason.
The Hornets look very different from a year ago after trading LaMelo Ball to Minnesota and Miles Bridges to Phoenix. Brooklyn, which landed Julius Randle in the Ball deal, has only one player on its injury report, rookie Tyler Bilodeau with a right shoulder sprain.
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